


Afterwards

by HalfAnachronism



Category: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - All Media Types, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John Le Carré
Genre: Fluff, Jim Is Pining, M/M, he just.... pines... so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 23:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4368053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfAnachronism/pseuds/HalfAnachronism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What should've happened at the Christmas party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Afterwards

It was a lovely evening, almost too lovely to be stuck inside at a party. Jim wanted to be outside, running around a track under the clear night sky, the moon lighting his path. He was an athlete, after all; why should he be cooped up with the coworkers he spent too much time with when he could be truly enjoying the freezing night?

Jim was about to rise and quietly exit the building when a familiar face caught his eye. This face smiled at him, a beautiful, fashion-model smile, the smile he’d spent so many years living right next to, a smile that was could calm his nerves in any situation. His own lips smiled back without him even thinking about it, and his desire to leave was forgotten as he watched Bill make his way over to him.

Bill slid past the punch bowl quickly, still looking towards Jim to show him he wasn’t forgotten, and soon Bill arrived with two cups of punch. Jim rose to meet him, taking a cup and thanking him for it, Bill’s now-free left hand sliding over Jim’s upper arm briefly. Jim tensed up slightly at the touch, but only after Bill’s friendly hand was removed, because he knew the action was just that: friendly. They were friends, and that was all they’d ever be.

“Wonderful party, isn’t it?” Bill started, his smirk driving Jim mad.

“‘Tis.” Jim responded quickly. “Perfect night to have a party on, as well.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you were thinking of ditching to go run laps or something.” Bill teased, grinning as both men laughed.

“I did consider it, yes.”

“Well, I’m not much for running, but I wouldn’t exactly mind ditching this place.”

“Not two seconds ago you were saying the party was wonderful.”

“I was, and now I’m bored. So let’s split.” The atmosphere of the conversation was jokey, but Jim now knew that Bill was serious about leaving.

“But where will we go?”

Bill shrugged. “Beats me. Let’s just wing it.”

“Eh, why not?”

“Marvelous!” Bill grinned, and turned to leave. Jim followed closely behind.

The two men attempted to make it look like they weren’t rushing to leave, but it was probably obvious. They ended up walking the streets with no particular destination in mind.

“Maybe we could go to the pub?” Jim suggested.

Bill was rushing along, Jim struggling to keep up with him. Jim’s hands were shoved in his jacket pocket, but since Bill was in a simple suit, he was probably freezing. “What’s the point? We just came from a place with drinks, let’s not waste our time at another place with drinks.”

“All right. Well maybe we could go to the park and just sit around?”

Bill stopped walking and turned to face Jim. “And look like a bunch of paedophiles? I’d rather not.” Bill laughed and resumed walking, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him along with him.

“We only look like paedophiles if we’re there during the day,” Jim joked as Bill linked their arms together.

They were so close now. Bill was never one for personal space, he was always standing too close to Jim, especially when cold. Jim was used to this, he’d spent many years cuddled up next to Bill in a hotel bed that they had to share on a mission, and although it tortured him to know he was so close to Bill, that he could so easily kiss the man, he couldn’t say he minded it.

Jim wished it wasn’t so obvious that he hung onto Bill’s every word. He’d loved this man for so long and he knew he’d probably get killed for it, but he had yet to meet anyone else that could make his heart race with just a smile like Bill could.

“Maybe we could go to your place?” Bill suggested.

“What the hell would we do at my place?”

“Well, for starters, it’s warmer there, and I’m fucking freezing my cock off here.”

Jim tried to push the idea of Bill’s cock out of his mind, and he stopped walking, unlinking their arms. He took off his jacket, which he promptly handed to Bill, who put it on, grabbed Jim’s arm again, and resumed their journey.

“Jim, honestly, you’re too good to me. I should marry you.”

Jim laughed. “Well, we’ve got a free night.”

Bill laughed back. “So, your place?”

“Eh, I guess so. Your place is nicer though.”

“My place is a shithole, and you’ve got a poodle.”

“I swear, you only love me for my dog.”

“Untrue. I love you for how your arse looks in a rugby uniform.”

Both men were chuckling as they marched along. Jim was used to this, semi-flirting with Bill, endless amounts of teasing and giggling like the schoolboys they once were. He wished it was real flirting, that Bill actually meant it when he said he loved him before bursting into a fit of giggles, but that would never happen and he’d grown used to that idea as well.

They turned a corner and were at Jim’s small apartment. They bounded up the steps to the front door, their movements in sync, and Jim stuck his hand into the pocket of the jacket Bill was now wearing to fish out his keys. He unlocked the door and they shoved in.

Bill took off both Jim’s jacket and his own, throwing both onto the couch. “So, aren’t you going to offer me a drink?”

Jim smirked and held back a sarcastic response. “What do you want?”

“Vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.”

“You’re a piece of shit.”

“You love it.”

“That is very true.” Jim entered his kitchen as Bill bent down to pet Louis the black standard poodle who Bill had actually named, after Jacques-Louis David, the famous painter from the French Revolution.

Jim quickly returned with two beers in hand, saying that that was all he had. Bill smiled and took a beer, his fingers brushing Jim’s momentarily.

The two men sat down next to each other on Jim’s couch. “Aren’t you glad we escaped that awful party?”

Jim nodded, then took a sip from his beer. “I was so bored. I’m glad I found you.”

“You should be. Where would you be without me?”

“Well, I’d always have an extra beer, and I’d have a dog that doesn’t have a ridiculous name.”

“Oh, hush, you were going to name that lovely animal after some famous athlete or something.”

“So?”

“ _So?_ That’s not nearly as interesting as Jacques-Louis.”

“I can think of many, many names that are more interesting than Jacques-Louis.”

“No you can’t.”

Both men laughed and began to down their beers, never breaking eye contact. They finished their bottles at the same time and they both reached to place them on the small coffee table next to them.

“Got any more beer?”

“Those were the last ones.”

“What kind of life are you living if you’ve only got two beers handy?”

“I didn’t know you had intentions of getting drunk tonight.” Jim smirked.

“I hadn’t any intentions, I was just hoping for a light buzz, just enough to have me drooling around in your lap, enough to have you allowing it.” Bill smirked back, but his smirk wasn’t friendly as Jim’s was, it was slightly more flirty, but Jim thought nothing of it.

“We needn’t be drunk for me to allow that,” Jim said without thinking, watching as his dog left the room.

“Oh, so that’s how it is?”

Jim looked back toward Bill, whose teasing smile made him realize what he said. “I....”

“If that’s how it is, you could’ve just said so.”

Jim looked down at his lap to see Bill’s hand slowly creeping onto his knee, his fingers sliding across Jim’s inner thigh.

Jim bit his lip and replied, “That’s.... that’s how it is.”

He looked back up to find Bill quickly leaning in to kiss him. He kissed him back, stunned as Bill kissed him more intensely, both of them leaning into each other.

Jim couldn’t think straight. He could barely believe this was happening, he was almost bursting with emotion as Bill bit his bottom lip. He could feel Bill’s fingers running through his hair, occasionally gripping his hair to hold him in place so that Bill could deepen the kiss even more.

The hand that was on Jim’s thigh crept up and around Jim’s waist, Bill’s arm wrapping around him, pulling their torsos closer together. Suddenly, Bill stopped, pulling away from Jim, but leaving only a few inches in between them.

“Are you all right?” Jim whispered.

“I was just thinking about all the years we’ve spent not kissing each other when we really should’ve been.”

“We can make up for lost time now.”

“I know. Could we make up for lost time in your bedroom?”

“Oh fuck yes.”

“Lovely!” Bill kissed Jim quickly then leapt up from the couch. He rushed to Jim’s bedroom, dragging a grinning Jim along by the hand.


End file.
